Sunday, January 25, 2004
Just watched American Virgins about abstinence programs in the US. It mainly concentrated on The Silver Ring Thing, which is all about wearing a ring to remind yourself not to accidentally have sex with anyone so you can give your virginity to your husband, or wife, come wedding night. I don't have that much of a problem with abstinence programs, although I think the fact they invariably are connected to religion says more about the reality tunnel they're projecting through than whether sex is truly 'good' or 'bad'. Anyway, from what we saw SRT seemed a fairly benign version of the 'an angel dies every time there's sex outside marriage' shebang, they seem to concentrate on the more valid problems of sexually transmitted diseases (though from what we saw they harped on about this so much they sounded like they were performing hypochondriac porn) and personal choice and freedom (an interesting tack for a faith-based group).
It was only when they arranged for some experts to put up there side in a debate at a university campus that things got unpleasant, not their fault but that of their experts, browbeating their opponents and interupting, it did rather smack of getting nasty because their side of the argument doesn't really stand up. The funniest moment is when the SRT teens in one van hear the other van has been delayed due to mechanical problems and they decide to pray about it. They start off praying that God keeps the other van safe, but then the girl leading the prayer seems to get a bit carried away and asks God (who she keeps referring to as LorGod, as though he's Superman's Kryptonian cousin or something, "Kneel before Zod, son of Lor-God!") to give them super-strength and invulnerability to see them through.
It was only when they arranged for some experts to put up there side in a debate at a university campus that things got unpleasant, not their fault but that of their experts, browbeating their opponents and interupting, it did rather smack of getting nasty because their side of the argument doesn't really stand up. The funniest moment is when the SRT teens in one van hear the other van has been delayed due to mechanical problems and they decide to pray about it. They start off praying that God keeps the other van safe, but then the girl leading the prayer seems to get a bit carried away and asks God (who she keeps referring to as LorGod, as though he's Superman's Kryptonian cousin or something, "Kneel before Zod, son of Lor-God!") to give them super-strength and invulnerability to see them through.
